The Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal reports that the Minnesota Star Tribune is offering voluntary buyouts to up to 100 employees as part of efforts to “right-size” its workforce. Eligible employees must have at least five years of service, and their age plus years of service must total at least 65. The newspaper’s union called the move “unusual and frustrating” since they weren’t notified beforehand, and while no layoffs were mentioned, the buyouts appear to be the first step in restructuring the workforce.
Mary Ellen Reihsen, a labor and employment lawyer at Edina-based Hellmuth & Johnson, said she does not view the buyouts as an attempt to get rid of older workers. “This is a pretty straightforward leaning of the staff,” she said. “But, I think, their choice to say that this is all about the future and new technologies … creates an optics problem for themselves that they didn’t need to create.”
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